After 20 years and countless collaborations, The Sadies merit their reputation as a superb supporting band and live act. The question arises: Why do their own songs generally fail to lodge in the memory? A troubled response might be—rock and country are in conflict. Following Dallas and Travis Good’s recent fine album with extended family, […]
Reviews
Posted inArts + Music
Typhoon
If you like poetic lyrics and Pat LePoidevin-style vocals—the kind of soaring heart-skipping swells that match and marry orchestral instrumentals, well then it’s going to be the easiest thing in the world for you to get caught up in the indie-rock band Typhoon from Portland, OR. Its live shows boast upwards of 12 band members […]
Posted inArts + Music
Weed
Some things you’re just born with. Born damn lucky to have, in fact. Vancouver’s Weed have been advantageously endowed with the great gift of rock ‘n’ roll instinct and shares it in spades on its full-length debut. The production is perfectly muddied, the melodies are simple and inspired and the playing is downright ferocious. If you’re looking […]
Posted inArts + Music
Braids
These Calgarians have found Montreal a more nurturing artistic base for experimenting with words and electronics. Raphaelle Standell-Preston is the impish angelic voice negotiating soundscapes her bandmates concoct. “He’s so carefree. Why can I not be?” she sings in “Girl,” as if disoriented in a setting that would wash past the listener if she weren’t […]
Posted inArts + Music
Pat LePoidevin
He has the kind of voice that is a little unsettling; going-for-broke vocals that seem like they should crack but never do, no matter what he’s singing about it all feels a little melancholy, a little heartbreaking. In American Fiction LePoidevin, a dual citizen, gets in touch with his US family history by weaving fictional […]
Posted inArts + Music
Jessy Lanza
In the realm of ethereal feminine vocals over rumbly, sparkly machines, Canada is giving Scandinavia a good run. Similar in genre to Grimes, Austra and Braids, yet distinctive in her goal is Hamilton’s Jessy Lanza, getting a big assist from Jeremy Greenspan of Junior Boys. Synthesizers were strange, then dominant, oppressive even in the 1980s. […]
Posted inArts + Music
Said the Whale
On the new album Hawaii, Said the Whale is getting in touch with its inner Beach Boys. Song after song shimmers with that post-summer glow and 1960s spirit with a little synth edge. Working again with long-time producer Tom Dobrzanski (Hey Ocean!, We Are The City) it’s not all sunshine and rainbows–”I Love You” has […]
Posted inArts + Music
Seth Smith
By now, it’s safe to say that Seth Smith is an institute of Halifax art. A prolific musician, printmaker and a budding filmmaker, Smith has proven himself an idiosyncratic wizard on all fronts. This soundtrack only serves to further that reputation. It may just be the darkest thing in Smith’s catalogue: it trudges through the […]
Posted inArts + Music
Asif Illyas
In early 2013, frontman Asif Illyas resurfaced from the ashes of MIR with his solo debut Synesthesia. This is an album not beholden to the typical trappings of east coast music, but one which manages to bring together world music elements in the vein of a Peter Gabriel, or a Midnight Oil (see “Slave 2 […]
Posted inArts + Music
Robin Thicke
After fending off two stylish robots and a last-minute push from a twerking young pop star, Robin Thicke stands alone on the podium, confetti falling, holding his well-earned Song of the Summer trophy to the skies. With the season’s top prize already in-hand, Blurred Lines the album sounds more like a leisurely victory lap than […]
Posted inArts + Music
Diana
Caught between N64’s Wave Race soundtrack and Warpaint on synth steroids, Toronto’s Diana drops a debut album that is both danceable and deep. Though somewhat typical of shoegaze revival, these are serious cuts—slightly schizoid, but never boring. Strongest showings are “Born Again,” an ultra-addictive relaxation groove, “Anna,” which would belong to the genre of Final […]
Posted inArts + Music
Kim Wempe
A prairie gal who travelled east years ago and liked the supportive atmosphere, Wempe writes songs that would stand up solo if needed. On Coalition, she engages a robust roster of players for a set that will get the folkies up to shake it out. There’s a gospel, or at least inspirational, fervour throughout. The […]